Great Lakes Civic Media Campaign Manager

Free Press is a national non-profit with a staff of 36.   We work tirelessly for equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what’s actually happening in their communities. We’re fiesty, supportive and racial justice-oriented.  We’re looking for an experienced campaign manager to join our team.

The Civic Media Campaign Manager will anchor Free Press’ organizing, network building and policy making efforts in the Great Lakes region in support of a robust civic media environment. With more state policymakers searching for solutions to ensure that the public has access to quality news and information, there is a huge opportunity to create real changes to local media systems. As a member of the Journalism and Civic Media program at Free Press, the Campaign Manager will help design and oversee implementation of our Great Lakes campaign to strengthen local news, community and ethnic media, and the information needs of residents across the region, beginning in Illinois and Wisconsin. 

Our field and campaign work occur both online and on the ground; this position builds local ally relationships, executes creative tactics, and develops engagement strategies to advance our campaigns. The Campaign Manager will mobilize our network of more than 27,000 active members in the region, coordinating and activating coalitions around our short- and long-term campaigns. The Campaign Manager must bring an intersectional approach to our work that includes a race, class and gender analysis in order to elevate the relevance of media justice and journalism policy to people in the region.

This is a two-year fixed-term position with continuance dependent on funding and other strategic considerations.

Experience and qualifications required to succeed in this position:

• A home office in Wisconsin or Illinois
• A drivers license and vehicle
• No minimum education is required; a bachelor's degree may be an indicator of capacity for this position
• 4+ years of directly relevant experience advocating for policy change as part of a nonprofit public interest organization or similar setting is required
• Experience working with, building and leading diverse winning coalitions.
• Experience working with and knowledge of local and state level organizations in Illinois and/or Wisconsin.
• Strong interest in media, technology and journalism issues and demonstrated experience working on those or similar issues
• Experience supervising volunteers or interns
• Experience leading successful organizing efforts with a combination of online and/or offline organizing, rapid-response work, volunteer engagement, political advocacy, training and reporting
• Must have strong communications skills including writing, editing, and public speaking.
• Spanish language fluency is a plus

The full job description and hiring information are available via the application link.